Mission
Missions are the main game component in Warframe. Each mission has a specific objective, although the objective can change during the mission. The playable area in missions are randomly generated using room chunks, and missions have a chance to include environmental hazard on the beginning of the mission. Each mission is populated by a specific faction as enemies, but it is possible for two different factions to appear in a mission (and are hostile between themselves). Completion of objective and successful extraction nets the player bonus experience, credits, and rewards (for alert mission). There are 10 types of mission currently in the game. Mission Types Alert Alerts are temporary missions that "spawn" next to any other mission that you have unlocked (though not necessarily completed), and can be of any mission type, if the type selected is assassination, the boss will have a chance to drop a blueprint. Alerts are temporary, they spawn linked to one of your available missions, and stay open untill a given amount of time passes, or you complete the alert; this means that the more missions you have available, the higher the chance that the next alert will spawn somewhere available to you. Alerts also give rewards, usually in the shape of more credits than usual, but sometimes they award special blueprints you can't obtain anywhere else, instead. You can recognize this special award with a "?" in the reward bar. That means if you fulfill this mission you will 100% obtain a random and rare blueprint such like weapon blueprints or even equipment blueprints for the Orokin Catalyst or the Orokin Reactor. Assassination In this mission, you need to find the boss, kill it, and then return to extraction. These are the most commonly farmed missions, because they provide a chance to obtain blueprints or rare resources. Capture In this type of mission, you need to find the target(Taking the form of a Corpus Crewman), attack them till they are on the ground, then move over them and hit X for "capture", then return to extraction. Deception In this type of mission, you will spawn in a given room, and there will be a data thingy nearby. You need to pick it up and proceed to the target console, hit X to upload the false data, and return to extraction. You will usually only use your pistol or melee weapon for the first half of this mission, since pulling out the rifle will drop the datapack, and you will need to pick it back up. Defense In this mission you need to defend an orokin cryopod. You will start in a small room next to a larger one, when you enter the large room, waves of attackers will start entering the room. Keep the cryopod alive while you kill every wave, and move on to extraction. These missions are pretty fast, since there is pretty much zero travel time, and the number of waves is quite bearable. Exterminate In this mission, you simply need to kill all enemies in the area, and then make it to extraction (only defense turrets etc. will be around to attack you by then). There is a counter below your minimap showing you the number of enemies left. Additional enemies will not spawn during this kind of mission. Raid In this kind of mission, you need to find the relic, hit X to loot it, and then return to extraction. It is very similar to sabotage missions, because the room with the relic is the same type of room that contains the reactor, you even have to activate a console to lift the relic, just like with the reactor. Rescue In this type of mission you will be lead to a room with 12 prison cells, about half of which will be red-locked, and the rest green-locked, hack the green rooms till you find the one with the hostage. Once he is free, the hostage will follow you while you head for extraction, if the hostage dies, the mission is failed. Sabotage In this kind of mission you need to find the reactor room, hit the console to raise it, and then destroy it. The reactor looks like a ball with many glass cylinders sticking out of it, to destroy the reactor, you need to destroy each of the glass cylinders; shoot them or hit them with a melee weapon (melee is the fastest it seems). When the reactor is destroyed, return to extraction. Spy In this type of missions, you need to locate 4 (usually) computers, and hack each of them. Once a computer is hacked, a datapack will be raised on the platform next to it, pick it up and proceed to the next computer. If you switch to a rifle while carrying a datapack, the datapack will be dropped on the ground, and you'll need to pick it back up. When you have all the datapacks (they "stack", so you can carry all 4 at the same time), return to extraction. Note: This might have been a bug, but I once did a spy mission with NO datapacks, from the beginning, it just said "0 left" (or whatever) below the minimap, and I just went straight for extraction with no hiccups. Secondary Objective Lockdown Sometimes enemies will activate "lockdown", this closes most doors, and you'll have to hack a control console to open them back up. This does not lock elevators. Key Search Sometimes when you encounter a locked door, you will have to search for a key-pass before you can proceed, the key-pass acts similarly to datapacks as far as mechanics goes. Once you have the key, stand in front of the door and hit X to open. Timed Extraction Sometimes when you reach your goal (destroy the reactor, free the hostage, capture the VIP, etc.), a timer will activate, if you dont reach extraction before it runs out, you fail the mission. This is most problematic during rescue missions, since if you just run for it, chances are the hostage will get stuck somewhere (or simply get killed), and you'll have to go back for them, which can be quite troublesome and get you killed if you gathered too many enemies on your run. Additional objective Sometimes when you reach your goal (hostage, reactor, etc.), you will be informed that there is another objective, this can be most of the other types of objectives. For instance, you have destroyed the reactor, but instead of being given the extraction location, you get the location of a hostage, and will need to rescue them before you can get extracted. This can coincide with the timed extraction event, making for a hectic run. Environmental Hazards Self-Destruct The ship is in the midst of a self-destruct and fire hazards are placed everywhere. Cryogenic Leakage Sometimes when you start a mission, you will be informed that the temperatures are freezing, and that your shields have taken a hit. Your maximum amount of shields will be lowered for the duration of the mission. Patches of ice will be scattered across the map, these dont seem to have any effect whatsoever.